Experts Speak Out Against Computers for Youngsters - this short article relies on studies dating back several years to make the point that computers damage the social and intellectual development of children. I disagree. Computers used as a tool to achieve intended tasks are very effective. When they are used as an end in themselves (i.e. many administrators have brought computers into schools simply because "everyone's doing it", without a real idea of how they will be used to contribute to learning), they aren't effective.
Posted by gsiemens at January 19, 2004 07:17 PMSame old story again and again.
I guess this statement: "powerful technologies are distracting children and adults from each other" is as false as cynical. Computers seem to be the expiatory goat for parents miseducating sons or, if preferred, parents miseducation in sons education.
Everything going under this first hypothesis ("powerful technologies are distracting children and adults from each other"), which I find so false, is, hence, equally untrue.
Of course there're some things to take in consideration, but I guess we should pay more attention on how we focus technologycal change instead of blaming it for everything.
Take this other statement: "Another telling conclusion of the CUNY study is that "computers do not currently have a strong impact on student learning because most teachers find them to be of limited utility and hard to deploy in their daily teaching." If so, schools have wasted a lot of money purchasing computers."
Well, maybe they wasted that bunch of money hiring these teachers.
Posted by: isma at January 20, 2004 06:49 AM